The Politics of Food
Author Marion Nestle to Discuss How the Food Industry Influences Our Health
In case you haven’t noticed, our country is growing. No, not just in population size; we’re talking menu size, portion size, and consequently, waist size. What’s an American to do? Each day, our society continually embraces food practices of eating more and eating more often. Masked behind these, what we can now call “societal norms” are multimillion dollar food companies who could give a hoot about your health. But Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, believes our society is in the midst of a food revolution where we have the chance to be responsible when it comes to our food, both personally and socially.
On February 26, Nestle will visit Santa Barbara to give a talk on what we should do to deal with the present “eat more” outlook. Nestle is adamant that something needs to be done about this food environment that encourages our society to eat more frequently than they need to, more often than they should, and in more places than there used to be.
Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at NYU and has authored five books on the subject of controversial issues in food and nutrition and what we should be eating.
In this particular talk, “Food Politics: Personal Responsibility vs. Social Responsibility,” Nestle will focus heavily on advocating that the current food system change into one that is better for both food producers and food eaters. Nestle will comment on the competition within the food industry for our money and its direct influence on how we eat and inevitably, our growing obesity rates and health problems. The talk will present Nestle’s tenets on managing the food crisis while working to change it.
This event is sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at UCSB and is part of the Food Matters year-long program.
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Marion Nestle will discuss “Food Politics: Personal Responsibility vs. Social Responsibility” on Thursday, February 26, 7:30-8:30 p.m., at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 E. Cota St., in Santa Barbara. Tickets are $5, but students are free.
